(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and in particular to a technology that is effective when applied to a liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal display panel where the substrate has a color filter and a protective film formed so as to cover this color filter.
(2) Description of the Related Art
TFT (thin film transistor) type liquid crystal display devices are known as one type of liquid crystal display device. Such TFT type liquid crystal display devices are widely used as displays for various electronic devices, and mainly have a liquid crystal display panel on which any letters and images can be displayed and a semiconductor chip on which a circuit for driving and controlling this liquid crystal display panel is mounted.
The liquid crystal display panels are formed of: a first substrate on which pixel electrodes, thin film transistors and the like are formed (hereinafter referred to as TFT substrate); a second substrate on which color filters and the like are formed (hereinafter referred to as CF substrate); a sealing material provided between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate so that the TFT substrate and the CF substrate are pasted together; and a liquid crystal layer that is sealed in the region surrounded by the sealing material between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate. The TFT substrate has a non-overlapping region, which does not overlap the CF substrate, and a semiconductor chip is mounted on this non-overlapping region.
Here, the prior art documents relating to the present invention include the following patent documents.
JP 10-232404A discloses a technology for coating the flat film on the array substrate side with a seal so that the flat film is not directly exposed to air, and thus the display can be prevented from deteriorating due to water absorption by the flat film.
JP 2009-151150A discloses a technology for applying a photo-curing resin to the entirety of the color filter substrate, and after that using a photomask having three or more different regions, such as an opening portion, a gray tone portion and a half-tone portion, so that a pattern on the plane is collectively drawn, exposed to light, and developed, and thus an overcoating layer, a photospacer and a sub-photospacer are collectively formed.